Foles, teammates profiting from how the QB has progressed

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, here warming up before Sunday’s snowy game against the Detroit Lions, has risen from being the eighth quarterback chosen in the 2010 draft to the No. 1 QB for an Eagles team on the rise thanks largely to his success. (Times staff / ERIC HARTLINE)

PHILADELPHIA — About 600 days ago, he was a curiosity, a name, a shot the Eagles would take in the third round of a draft.

About 300 days ago, he was an afterthought, a backup plan to a series of franchise backup plans.

About 100 days ago, he was a No. 2 quarterback, the silver medalist in a race for No. 1, an emergency option, a small insurance policy against the ever-brittle Michael Vick.

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And this week, Nick Foles is on the cover of Sports Illustrated, is the NFL leader in quarterback rating, is a three-time NFC Offensive Player of the Week and is a player whose equipment went on display in Canton after a seven-touchdown-pass game.

That soon?

As the Eagles take their five-game winning streak to Minnesota Sunday, there still is no easy forecast for how their season will conclude. It could still end in everything from late-season disaster to, well, a particular NFL game of some popular interest.

But as for the middle of December, as of Thursday at the NovaCare Complex, as for right here, right now, the Eagles can claim one prize. The Eagles — the offense in particular — can claim to have supported, enjoyed and profited from the 600-day development of a serious candidate to be a Pro Bowl quarterback.

Who could have seen it?

“I mean, the moment he got here, I think everybody could see that he was a good quarterback,” Jason Kelce was saying Thursday, after practice. “It was the way he carried himself. It was the way he plays. You know, he’s just been real solid since he’s been here.”

Foles’ ascension from a virtual five-man scramble for the job to distinction as the Birds’ clear No. 1 quarterback was, in most ways, his own doing. From his commitment to the film room, to his able handling of what could have been a touchy relationship from the greatly more accomplished Vick, to his continued command of Chip Kelly’s complicated offense, Foles has earned his own achievements.

That hasn’t stopped some of those who have seen it close up — his offensive teammates, that is — from enjoying the show, if not from sharing in its glow.

“I think it is real satisfying, with the production that we are getting,” Todd Herremanns said. “The thing about Nick is that he knows he can still get better. That’s the kind of person he is. He keeps a level head. He’s out there working every day. And he is just excited that we are winning, and he wants to keep it going.”

Foles wasn’t the first quarterback chosen in the 2012 draft, or the second, or the fifth. He was the eighth, 13 spots behind Russell Wilson, 14 ahead of fourth-round choice Kirk Cousins. That was the draft in which Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin went 1-2, and in which Ryan Tannehill and Brandon Weeden also went in the first round.

So by the time the Eagles got around to picking him, Foles was already widely dismissed as a chance, as a possible bridge to a different quarterback of the future, as a curiosity.

A season-plus later, no one has a better quarterback rating.

“Those quarterbacks who were taken in the first or second rounds are very, very confident quarterbacks,” Foles said. “I wish them all very great careers. I was very fortunate to be in a great draft class for quarterbacks. You do see guys go before you and you get the feeling of, ‘Oh, man.’ But then I got my mindset back and thought, ‘Well, I can’t worry about that.’ Obviously, some guys are good. So I just tried to zone out all of that and say, ‘Hey, I know what to work on to be the best. I have that burning desire. I want to do that. I know what I have to work on.’

“Playing this position, it is like an art. You really have to work on it every day, whether it is in the offseason, working on different skills, or if it is just looking for different throwing angles. So I know those guys, and they are great guys. But I don’t worry about that. I am proud of the quarterbacks who are in my draft class. And we all have to worry about ourselves.”

So Foles was proud, 600 days ago, as he remains in Week 15 of his second NFL season.

Others in the Eagles locker room are too.

“It is an achievement,” Kelce said. “And he has played better over the past month or so — better, arguably, than any other quarterback.

“So as far as I have been concerned, it has been awesome, just to see every progression, and how he’s gotten better throughout. And he’ll probably continue to do that.”